Mildest Fish

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I am well aware of restocking fish. When I lived on the farm, there is a very old mill in Brewster, Cape Cod. The mill has a wheel and when the fish are spawning up stream, the wheel was shut off when they were restocking the lake above the mill. As kids we were fascinated with the whole process and would go and watch them.

If there were enough fish spawning, you were allowed to go there with a pail and catch one pail full of fish. Otherwise, you couldn't do it. It depended on the fish count in the lake that had been done at an earlier date. And yes, even as old as I am, they were already restocking the depleted supply at that time. Have to keep those fishermen like Chief happy.
 
Addie, "farmed fish" are not used for restocking lakes. They are grown in a contained area until big enough for harvest, then processed for retail sales.

Although free swimming, it would be funny if they grew them on vines like zucchini. [emoji38]
 
Farm versus hatchery - semantics. A hatchery is a farm for fish. Just like you raise cows, goat, sheep, etc on farms. Hatchery is a more specific term for fish that are raised and released, but it's still a farm when you get down to the basics.
 
Farm versus hatchery - semantics. A hatchery is a farm for fish. Just like you raise cows, goat, sheep, etc on farms. Hatchery is a more specific term for fish that are raised and released, but it's still a farm when you get down to the basics.
Farm versus hatchery. Chicken versus egg.

se·man·tics
/səˈman(t)iks/
noun
the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning

Words matter. It's how we communicate. Being precise with language helps prevent misunderstandings.
 
The only difference between a hatchery and a farm is that the fish are released into the wild early on instead of being fattened up and sold for consumption. They start out exactly the same with breeders, spawning, fry, etc. The same fish husbandry principles apply. All hatcheries are farms, but all farms are not just hatcheries.
 
Looks like a really started a somewhat heat conversation. Thanks for all the input folks. Makes for interesting reading.
 
The only difference between a hatchery and a farm is that the fish are released into the wild early on instead of being fattened up and sold for consumption. They start out exactly the same with breeders, spawning, fry, etc. The same fish husbandry principles apply. All hatcheries are farms, but all farms are not just hatcheries.
The purpose of an endeavor is an important difference. In the context of this post, the Chief did not catch a farm-raised trout; it was a hatchery trout.
 
Skates are related to sharks. I know that when very fresh, the meat is very similar to scallops in both texture and flavor. However, the meat quickly begins to degrade, and develops an ammonia smell and flavor. If I recall from biology class, urine goes through a chemical metamorphosis and becomes ammonia in nature, part of the ammonia cycle.

Craig C, this lends credibility to your statement about sharks. I[ve only heard of people eating shark fins.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

A big seller in China from my understanding.
 
We have a number of fish hatcheries in Michigan's Eastern U.P., and my dad and I used to visit them after a day of walking the streams. They all had concrete tanks about 12 foot long, by 4 foot wide, with water from a nearby local spring that fell into the head tanks of each row, and a small divider that separated the tanks and that allowed water to spill over the top, into the next tanks. So there was always a current, and freshly flowing water in the tanks.

The tanks sat end to end, in rows of 5, with four rows set 3 feet apart, There were metal grates that acted as bridges over the tanks, so you could walk right above the fish, as well as walking along th tank sides.. The fish were separated by size, with fingerlings, in one tank, year old fries in another, 10 to 12 inches in another, and so on up to 2 foot long lake trout. They were also separated by species, with brook trout, rainbows, and lake trout. These fish were all raised to be planted in rivers , lakes and streams. After we visited a hatchery ,there was a store that served hard ice cream at 20 cents a scoop. I loved that ice cream. My favorites were the same that my dad liked, butter pecan, and maple-nut.

I have studied up on fish farms, especially in the Netherlands and China. These are areas of ocean, or lakes where mesh holding pens are huge, and contain thousands of fish. They are overrowded, and water quality is very bad as there is no movement of fresh water to naturaly replace and refresh the environment. The fish develop disease, and parasites, and are filled with PCB's, dioxin. I believe the fish farmed in South America is cleaner, and safer. Fish farmed in the U.Sl must meet conditions set by the appropriate governing agency.

So, farmed fish generally describes fish raised to sell-able size, in a captured environment, while hatchery fish are fish that have been grown from eggs to a size where they can be released into wild rivers, lakes, and streams.

I won't purchase tilapia, swai, or farm-raised salmon or trout as I know how they've been raised. Again, the inexpensive, low quality, even dangerous produce is sold to the less fortunate, while good fish is priced out of reach of most people.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I lived at a trout farm in the Laurentians for a while. I realize that that trout farm was probably unusual. The trout there were raised in artificial ponds. They were fed Trout Chow for the first year of their lives. After that, they were moved to other ponds, where they had to forage for insects, etc. They were not given any food. There was no overcrowding and there was circulation of fresh water.
 
I lived at a trout farm in the Laurentians for a while. I realize that that trout farm was probably unusual. The trout there were raised in artificial ponds. They were fed Trout Chow for the first year of their lives. After that, they were moved to other ponds, where they had to forage for insects, etc. They were not given any food. There was no overcrowding and there was circulation of fresh water.

That is unusual for a fish farm. I bet the fish was of superior quality and made up in price what they lacked in overcrowded numbers I just wish all fish farms were run by people who wanted to produce quality over quantity.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Trout farms are not at all unusual, and many of them have the fish learn how to forage naturally, towards the end of their life there. This is because many of these farms are growing these trouts to release into fishing areas. This way, the fish can live easier, I'm guessing, than if they had been fed fish food all the way up to their release. I'd be curious to find out if this method is also used for the food trout.
 
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